Irritated
by kairbear1980
Summary: She just had this feeling...


She woke up vaguely bothered by something. She couldn't put her finger on what it was. And then things went downhill from there. She took too long in the shower; the coffeepot took to long, the toaster decided to take forever. Every traffic light between her apartment and the Jeffersonian was tuned to making her stop. Every single damn one. She wished she had walked, too late now. The radio station fuzzed out just as her favorite song come on. When she finally got to work, there were random identity checks at the security check point, and of course she was detained.

By the time she reached her office, the faint sense of being bothered was a mental ball of pure irritation. She took a deep breath to clear her head, and then took a couple more when her thoughts simmered down a little. She turned on her computer, checked her phone messages. Everything seemed to be in slow motion... the irritation was back.

She began thinking about when this feeling started. Things were fine on Friday afternoon. All day Friday to be exact. She, Booth and the team had closed another case; Carolyn was now in possession of the file. She had been planning on a light work day Saturday, knowing full well that Booth would pull her away from the lab. Maybe Sunday he would leave her alone long enough to get a new chapter written. She was ahead of schedule on the new book, so if he didn't, no big deal. On the other hand, he had Parker for the weekend. So that could have gone either way. Either the Booth boys would leave her alone for the majority of the weekend, just call her a few times; or they would kidnap her for a full two days of family adventures. There were worse ways to spend a weekend. She smiled at the thought.

That's when it went something changed. They had stopped for a drink before going their separate ways for the evening when he started lacing his fingers together. Over and over.

"What's going on Booth?"

"Uh, nothing Bones. I've got to go and get Parker. We have a full weekend planned."

"Anything interesting going on? Do I need to be prepared for anything special?" She automatically assumed she would be included in anything fun.

"Nothing much. Jared is leaving next week for his trip, so the three of us are going to visit Mom. Ya know, one last visit with all of us together... Mom has been pretty insistent about seeing all of us, especially Parks."

"The three of you? You...You're going to be ok with being with Jared for that long?"

"I can take it. He's been better since you made him help with the... that case. Little frustrating, but that is a sibling thing I guess. We'll be fine. And Parker is looking forward to it."

"So how long will you be gone?" She was already missing him. Irrational as that sounded.

"We'll be back Sunday. Not too late, Parker has school on Monday."

His phone beeped in an incoming text. "That's Jar... He's all packed and ready. So, I have to go."

He grinned a little half smile, gently squeezed her shoulder. "Have a quiet weekend Bones. Don't go crazy and work all weekend."

And then he was gone.

That's when things started to get a little... stressful.

She went back to the lab. Started to work on the back log of 'stuff' in her in-box. There was never enough time to get to it all. She lost herself in the work. She finally required a stretch break. She looked at her watch, sighed when she realized it was past one o'clock in the morning. She debated on going home, or just sleeping on the couch. Home won. She had fallen asleep quickly, as soon as her head hit her pillow.

She was back at the lab by eight the next morning, relished in the fact that she had the whole place to herself. She was able to focus on her work until after lunch time. Her subconscious started playing games on her. Her cell phone was silent. He usually had called at least twice by now. And if he knew she was at the lab, he would show up with food, or to take her out.

_~He's not going to call Temperance. He is with Parker, and Jared. They are out of town. You need to regroup... You can get a lot of things done today. No interruptions. That hasn't happened in a long time. A very long time... Just focus back on the skeleton in front of you. He has family out there somewhere. He deserves to be found. He deserves your attention... Focus. He'll call later. He always calls... ~_

She finally settled her thoughts, and ignored the pang in her stomach. Finished with one set of remains, but felt no real motivation to start on another. She wandered into her office, opened the files for her book and tried to loose herself in her storyline.

That worked. She worked right through the dinner hour. Paid no attention to the time as her thoughts were transferred from her scientific imagination to the screen. When she surfaced from her work, it was again past midnight. Her phone had been silent all day, and night.

_~What is wrong with me? He is with his family; he does not have time to call... Don't take it personally Temperance. You are partners. Never forget that. Just partners. There is no rule that he has to call you everyday, more than once. He doesn't have to check on you when there is no case going on. You lived without Booth before; you can make it through on weekend... This is ridiculous. He is just my partner. ~_

She went home. But was not tired. She began cleaning, her mind running in circles. Should she call him? They would call if something was wrong, right? Of course nothing was wrong. She was being irrational. He was visiting his mother, with his son, and his brother. That was all. He deserved time away from everything; he had been through a lot lately. He and Jared definitely needed time together. Isn't that what he said about her and Russ. She had to stop thinking about him. She would most likely see him on Monday, even if they didn't have a case come up. That should have been good enough for her mind.

But it wasn't, for some reason. She drowsed, but never really slept. When her alarm went off on Monday morning, she was a little foggy. Her head felt heavy with the need for more sleep, her limbs felt like they were weighted down. But, she still managed to grab her cell phone. Checked for any messages that may have come in while she was in and out of sleep.

Nothing.

That's when the small bubble of irritation began to fester. It was all so... so.... so stupid. Why should she care if he couldn't bring himself to call her? The thoughts running through her head made time slow. She needed an outlet, and he was not cooperating at all. The tension building up was like the priming of a pump, or the tightness a person feels before take off in a plane. She didn't like it.

She went down into limbo. No one would bother her there. She could be alone with her thoughts; there would be almost no chance of losing her control on one of her innocent co-workers.

_~I can't believe he didn't call. At all. Not even once... Could he be...? No, he's not upset with me. Temperance, get a hold of yourself. He took his son and his brother to see his mother. He needed that time away, and he is not your keeper. He is JUST your PARTNER. _

_~This is his fault. I was perfectly fine before we started working together. I could go days without talking to anyone. I was completely satisfied with just my work. No one ever checked on me. Well, except those few times Angela tried to get me out of here. Then comes Booth... with that grin, and those eyes... Oh god, and his hand at my back... He just always seems to know when I've been working to long, or if I just need a friend. He knows I don't have anyone.... Damn him for doing this to me!_

_~Temperance, you know that's not fair. You let him in, and now you are paying for that._

_~But why hasn't he called? Nothing has ever stopped him before... If something happened to him, and no one called me... ~_

She had worked herself up into a hazy fit of anger. She had chosen a drawer, and was placing bones in the correct order, but was a little harder on them than she normally would be. She could not even think in coherent sentences any more, it was all just a staticky jumble in her head. Her nerves were on edge. Ready to go off at the next person that came near her.

_~I hope everyone just stays upstairs... I don't need anyone to see me like this...~_

Footsteps at the door. It was opened and they were coming closer. Impatient, men's footsteps.

That noise, that repetitive noise caused her to look up, and then turn.

One quick look had all her irritation draining like water down a drain.

"Hey, Bones. What are you doing down here this early in the morning? Let's go get some breakfast."

Yes, all that pent up anger and frustration with the world in general just disappeared. Her partner was here, for her, as usual.


End file.
